Ivan Sokolov
Number of games in database: 1,625
Years covered: 1986 to 2014
Last FIDE rating: 2623(2621 rapid, 2647 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2706Overall record: +560 -290 =657 (59.0%)*
* Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
118 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

Ivan Sokolov was born on the 13th of June 1968 in Bosnia (formerly Yugoslavia).
Awarded the GM title in 1987 and Yugoslav Champion in 1988 he was 1st= at Portoroz 1987, 1st= in Belgrade and 1st= in Saltsjöbaden.
He also played on the Yugoslav Olympiad team in 1988. He now represents the Netherlands in Olympiads and various other team championships.

Mr. V: Whiteshark, that is a great interview, thanks for posting it! Some GMs I've seen try to answer everything briefly, as if all questions have yes or no answers. But Ivan Sokolov is talkative and very nice to listen to.

HeMateMe: "I lived through Karpov-Kasparov matches, I remember analyses room, Tal usually leading the analyses and I also remember that when some games were finished we would all sit and analyse for hours and then think why didn’t Karpov or Kasparov play this move and we would say, hang on, there should be something because such a genius would not miss it. Sometimes we were right, sometimes not. But now thanks to chess engines this is lost. So I don’t like engines. Chess World Champions were heavily promoting it with all these computer matches in order to make money for themselves, not stories like we want artificial intelligence in the sport which Kasparov was coming up when he played a match against IBM. He wanted to make money. There was nothing else. And then coming up with stories like he got cheated is a complete crap."

<IS: I was able to get Kasparov in an unpleasant psychological situation. How did I get him into this condition? Kasparov enjoys very much when people are scared of him and if you show him that you are not, he gets intimidated and is less self-assured. And by the line that I was chose I was very clearly showing that I was neither scared of him nor his preparation. He did not like it. And then he had to remember his preparation and for even a player with a fantastic memory like Kasparov it is not easy to recollect everything. He even recalled the right game but not the right move. Once he realised that he was unable to remember the correct game he quickly collapsed. From the slightly minus position that he was in, he lost the game in just a few moves. He made a horrible blunder Kh7 when the position was quite playable.

SS: When you saw that Kh7 was a mistake and that you could win the game now what went through your mind?

IS: It was kind of a funny moment because we both had plenty of time on the clock. I realised that after I triple on the g-file it was going to be mate. Kasparov was already prepared to resign and leave. He had his Rolex back on his hand, his chocolate was taken away from the board, his jacket was on. <Basically he was saying- Come on make this move and get it over with! Then I said to myself - Hang on, when is the next time that I will have such a position against Kasparov from which I can demolish him in just one move! Perhaps never! How much time did I have on my clock? 40 minutes! Well let’s wait for a while then! Have a look at this beautiful position, look at miserable him (Garry really looks miserable when he is lost!), there is no reason to rush! So I took 10 minutes and then executed the move and he immediately resigned. (Smiles)>>

<I don’t think so. Free-flow of information and computer engines has changed chess to the point of no return. I would not say chess engines are good for the game, I would have preferred that they would have never happened because now even a stupid amateur can sit at home and confidently mock the world champion by putting stupid comments or status on Facebook like, “look at how Anand has blundered on this move.” Come on, you smart ass, if you wouldn’t have had Houdini running in front of you, you would have seen nothing!>

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